Yes or No
by elvenwanderer
Summary: Maglor has been gone for a long time. His wife, residing in Valinor, eventually would want to understand their situation, and potentially have them do something about it. This story presents an intro and four possible conclusions around Maglor seeing her for the first time in millennia. AU, no death, just a lot of angst.
1. Chapter 1

Notes explaining the premise are at the end of this page. There will be four short (251 words apiece) scenarios accompanying this introduction.

* * *

He saw her on one warm, sunny summer morning. He was combing through the farmer's market with his basket of squash and tomatoes and she was standing, talking to a vendor. She didn't see him. Probably.

He saw her again, later that week. He was just starting to perform on the guitar at a waterfront restaurant. She was walking on the beach in the sunset, her course parallel to the waves. She was close to the water, but rarely did it touch her. He watched her walk until she disappeared even though it took a long time for him to lose sight of her. Some time later, she walked back towards him in the moonlight, a soft glow coming from her pale skin and white hair. The light was not a reflectance from the moon, it was emanating from her though no one else seemed to notice her radiance. She walked back past the restaurant and he lost sight of her again.

He sat on the beach a few nights later, just watching and listening to the calming sound of the waves. He always came out here when sleep did not claim him, which was most nights these last few years. _She_ sat down next to him in the sand, the same pale light coming off of her as he had seen before. They sat like this, looking out over the water, for some minutes.

"I have been looking for you," she spoke slowly but without true hesitation. The language was obviously foreign to her; she had made an effort to learn English. He could place her accent, and he knew the tenor of her voice for they were engrained in his mind, even after all this time. He knew her walk, he knew her hair, he knew _her_.

"I did not think I would see you here," he responded, speaking instead in the language she could more readily understand. His voice was left void of emotion.

"This will be the only time."

He had been looking forward, pretending to watch the clouds move over the stars on the horizon, though this drew his eyes to her. She was looking at him, her eyes the color of dark tempered steel, framed by her pale face and white hair. How he had missed those eyes. "What?"

"I have come here with a purpose," she replied, her voice even. "You are forgiven."

He narrowed his eyes and shook his head. "I know not what I did to you–"

"By the Valar," she continued in the same tone, cutting him off. "You have atoned, and a part of you has healed to cover the breech in your fëa." She turned her body to face him and she sat cross-legged in the sand. "It has been a long time since I have had my husband at my side."

"You came here to stay with me?" He thought of his small home and wondered at the audacity of her inviting herself to stay, soulmate or no.

She frowned, her eyebrows drawing together over her delicate nose. "Not everything is solely about you. My purpose here, Kano, is to give you a choice." He questioned this, but she repeated herself. "I came to talk to you. To see you, to hear your voice once more. I wished to have the opportunity to tell you in person that our bond is one of the few things still tethering you to our society. While it gives you port in a storm, it is also anchoring me in the past." She closed her eyes, and he felt the loss of them acutely. "I can neither move forward and I do not wish to stay where I am any longer." Her voice was strained.

"What are you saying?"

"You must choose. I am your wife, though I cannot feel your fëa within mine as I once could. It is our bond that is not." She paused, now looking down to the sand at his feet. "I came here to ask you in person. I wished to give you the chance of reconciliation or to ask for the dissolution of it. Will you return to Aman with me?"

This struck him. He was silent for quite a while, not quite looking at her, but not looking away from her. "Which do you want?"

She turned her head back to the water, her hair shimmering over her shoulder and she swept it behind her ear again. This was harder to actually say than she had anticipated. She thought she would not have a reaction to seeing him, but she had been wrong. "I have spent an eternity alone after being tied to another by a brief love. I do not want to spend the next eternity the same way."

She felt, rather than watched him narrow his eyes at her. That was not an actual answer, though she expressed many possibilities in those two sentences.

"May I have some time to think about it?"

The white light around her increased in intensity as she grew angry at his question. "Time? You have had nothing but time to think. Thousands of years, Kano. Part of me wonders why you ask for more time when you clearly have not thought of me in that long."

"Of course I thought of you!" He spoke with vehemence he barely felt, an unconscious defense mechanism. "How could I not think of you? You are my wife!"

She huffed in righteous anger. "If you had considered _my_ feelings at all, or your mother's or any of your reborn brothers', why did you never come back?" She gestured out over the ocean; Valinor was always depicted as being to the West. "Barring that, why did you never _try_?"

He met her smoldering eyes, his jaw flapping open and shut like a fish. He had naught to say to that, knew he could say nothing. There was no apology he could give to her, no words he could possibly use that would make the hurt she felt dissipate. That was a discussion, one of very many, for another occasion, should they have the time. He simply shrugged and looked away.

She felt her immense anger fizzle and die down as she looked upon him. It had been _so_ long. Her love for him, long since diminished for its lack of preservation, grew again upon seeing him, but only a little. Even so, it was enough to make this harder on her, but she still would respect his choice for the sake of her own happiness, be it with him or without him. She reached a hand up towards his arm, but dropped it before she made contact with him. "You must choose."

* * *

Somewhere in HoME, Tolkien wrote that Maglor was married, though as far as I know there is no further word on the origins or fate of his wife. Depending on whether you think the hiding of Valinor would sever _or_ suppress the knowledge or feeling of any marriage or family bonds, this story will make sense or not. _My_ feeling is that the separation would not _break_ the bond of matrimony, but only weaken it. Once you give a piece of your fëä to another, it's theirs to keep, and vice versa, until and unless there is a unanimous decision to hit "control-Z". That is how I wrote this.

Maglor's wife was one of the following options: (a) she was born in Valinor and stayed behind, (b) was born in Valinor and left with him and died or (c) she was born in Beleriand and died or (d) she was born in Beleriand and left on a ship after the War of Wrath, though this seems highly unlikely. No matter her origin, she is alive (again) and is residing in Valinor.

It would be incredibly horrid to see everyone around you get their loved ones back as they were released from Mandos, one by one, and know that your soulmate is currently alive, impossibly far away and probably not going to return. Given societal and personal pressures (I believe Nerdanel would have faced some societal trouble under the stigma of being Fëanor's wife, so this elleth probably faced similar), she would eventually want or need to do something about her marriage. She needs to be happy and fulfilled in life as well.

There are so many possible permutations of this situation that I present, but I wrote are four of the simpler ones continuing off of the text above (to be posted in the next few days). They are in the form of two "yes" and two "no" scenarios, where he is either content or not at the end of them. Even with the two "yes" scenarios, they would still have much to talk about, so many issues to overcome if they were to truly be happy again. And in the two "no" scenarios, remember, he has lived this long without her, he can continue on. I may revisit these in time.

Please let me know what you think!


	2. No :(

"No," he whispered, looking at her with the pride and confidence she remembered of him.

"Say it."

"I am going to stay. I release you."

At his words, she raised her chin and drew herself up, her face and bearing regal. "Then I have my answer. Thank you. I now know what to do." She stood and looked down at him, her pale, beautiful face in relief to the stars. "This is good-bye, Kanafinwë," she stated, her voice emotionless. She turned and walked away, tears starting to stream down her cheeks as soon as she turned away from him.

He looked back over the ocean as she left him, biting his lips together and clasping his hands over his knees. He stayed motionless on the sand until the sun rose, and far into the morning when tourists and locals populated on the beach again.

Children were playing and laughing around him when he felt it happen. He gasped, pounding his chest as he felt a portion of himself simply _disappear_. It was a foreign, horrible feeling. A piece of him, of his very _soul_, was simply gone, a piece of himself that he had taken for granted for so long, for a bond once made was made forever. Later he had simply never considered it, never considered _her_.

And it was then he knew he'd made a mistake, and that it was too late to go back. A bond once unmade, was unmade for forever.

He knew he would never mend.


	3. Yes :(

"Yes," he whispered, looking at her with the pride and confidence she remembered of him.

"Say it."

"I will come."

At his words, she nodded, casting her gaze down at the sand between them. There were tears streaming down her cheeks. Seeing this, his proud demeanor crumpled. He extended his hand sideways, his fingers dropping to the ground again when they were only a few inches away from her. Something tightened within him, and he only barely remembered the sensation for what it was. He had not felt such in… a very long time.

"If you wish it, I will release you." For whatever reason, he was barely able to voice this statement. He hung his head between his shoulders, unsure of what else to say or do. Whatsoever it was that had tightened in his chest, reverberated. He took a deep, shuddering breath, trying to rationalize the feeling.

"Yes," she said, glancing up at him though he was not looking at her. Her eyes were reddened but she looked happy, almost eager. His fëa constricted again, and his own grief was palpable. She had given up on him. He felt the small part of his heart that was still hers fade away, leaving hollowness.

"Then why come here?"

"For your Mother, and for your three brothers."

And it was then he knew he had made a mistake, and that it was too late to go back. A bond once unmade, was unmade for forever.

He could still salvage his family.


	4. No :)

"No," he whispered, looking at her with the pride and confidence she remembered of him.

"Say it."

"I am going to stay. I release you."

At his words, she raised her chin and drew herself up, her face and bearing regal. "Then I have my answer. Thank you. I now know what to do." She stood and looked down at him, her pale, beautiful face in relief to the stars. "This is good-bye, Kanafinwë," she stated, her voice emotionless. She turned and walked away, tears starting to stream down her cheeks as soon as she turned away from him.

He looked back over the ocean as she left him, biting his lips together and clasping his hands over his knees. He stayed motionless on the sand until the sun rose, and far into the morning when tourists and locals populated on the beach again.

Children were playing and laughing around him when he felt it happen. He gasped, pounding his chest as he felt a portion of himself simply _disappear_. There was a hole left in its place. That piece of himself, _her_, he had kept tucked away. He was ashamed to be keeping part of her fëa captive but yet unable to let her go. It was freeing, really. He knew it was over between them.

And it was then he knew he'd not made a mistake, and that it was too late to go back. A bond once unmade, was unmade for forever.

He could move on at last.


	5. Yes :)

"Yes," he whispered, looking at her with the pride and confidence she remembered of him.

"Say it."

"I will come."

At his words, she nodded, casting her gaze down at the sand between them. There were tears streaming down her cheeks. Seeing this, his proud demeanor crumpled. He extended his hand sideways, his fingers dropping to the ground again when they were only a few inches away from her. Something tightened within him, and he only barely remembered the sensation for what it was. He had not felt such in… a very long time.

"If you wish it, I will release you." For whatever reason, he was barely able to voice this statement. He hung his head between his shoulders, unsure of what else to say or do. He heard her sniffle, and whatsoever it was that had tightened in his chest, reverberated. He took a deep, shuddering breath, trying to rationalize the feeling.

"No," she managed, glancing up at him though he was not looking at her. Her eyes were reddened, but she did not look unhappy. She was not pleased, per se, rather relieved. "Not yet. That may someday be our path, but not just yet." His fëa constricted again, and his own relief was palpable. She had not given up on him.

And it was then he knew he had not made a mistake, and that it was never too late to go back. A bond once made, was made for forever.

There was hope for them yet.


	6. Notes

These are all rather short. I wrote the first of them to 150 words, then wrote another, and another… then evened them out. This was partially as an exercise but I also wanted to keep them equal in depth and length, which wouldn't have happened otherwise. I wanted this to be a dice-toss as to which would happen. I may write more of these mini-futures along this vein, or more detail into the mini-futures already posted, and as you can see there are a lot of possibilities for both.

Thank you for reading, and please leave feedback! I'm happy to try and cater a "future" towards your reviews.


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